Impact of two different rodent diets on maternal ethanol consumption, serum ethanol concentration and pregnancy outcome measures

Effect of moderate prenatal ethanol exposure on the differential expression of two histamine H3 receptor isoforms in different brain regions of adult rat offspring

“…Rat dams in the 5% ethanol group consumed a mean of 1.81 ± 0.05 grams of ethanol each day during gestation ( Table 1 ). In a separate set of rat dams, this level of consumption produced a mean serum ethanol concentration of 25.1 ± 3.3 mg/dL when sampled 2 h after the introduction of drinking tubes ( Davies et al, 2023 ). This moderate prenatal ethanol exposure paradigm resulted in a 14% reduction in maternal weight gain that was statistically significant.…”

“…The breeding and prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) procedures for rats employed in this study were the same as described previously ( Hamilton et al, 2014 ; Davies et al, 2023 ). Pre-pregnancy drinking levels in female rats were evaluated by gradually acclimating them to drinking 5% ethanol in 0.066% saccharin in tap water 4 h each day.…”

“… a Samples collected 2 h after the introduction of drinking tubes ( Davies et al, 2023 ). * Denotes maternal weight gain data significantly less that control ( t = 2.66, p = 0.015).…”

Organization of spontaneous spatial behaviors under dark conditions is unaffected in adult male and female long–Evans rats after moderate prenatal alcohol exposure.

“…In the present study, this volume ranged from 1.43 g/kg to 2.94 g/kg. Previous studies have shown that this level of ethanol consumption produces a mean peak maternal serum ethanol concentration of 42.0 + 3.0 mg/dL (Davies et al, 2023). At birth, daily ethanol consumption was discontinued, and the litters were weighed and culled to 10 pups.…”

“…Female adult rat breeders (Harlan Industries, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States) were exposed to a voluntary ethanol drinking paradigm using previously described procedures (Davies et al, 2023; Osterlund Oltmanns et al, 2022). Prepregnancy ethanol consumption was monitored daily during a 4-hr period for at least 2 weeks, and mean daily ethanol consumption was determined for each female rat.…”